remoistened in desserts and drinks. Sweet
cassava varieties are less productive crop
plants, but have cyanide defenses only near
their surface, and are safe to eat after peeling
and normal cooking. The root flesh is snow-
white and dense, with a bark-like skin and a
fibrous core usually removed before cooking.
Cassava benefits from cooking in water to
moisten the starch before being fried or
baked.
Food Words: Potato, Yam
Potato came into English via the Spanish
patata, a version of the word used by the
Taino peoples of the Caribbean for the
sweet potato, batata. The Peruvian
Quechua word for the true potato of the
Andes was papa. Yam comes via
Portuguese from a West African word
meaning “to eat.”Taro and Dasheen Taro and dasheen are two
of many names for tubers of a water-loving